German Chiefs Hail Reagan`s `Courage`

BONN — West German officials praised President Reagan Thursday for his planned Bitburg cemetery visit and added that his courage would have an enduring positive impact on U.S.-German relations.

For his part, Reagan said he had never wavered from his decision to lay a wreath at the cemetery Sunday and added that the idea of collective guilt for the German people had been rejected at the Nuremburg trial of Nazi leaders after World War II.

The visit to the German military cemetery containing the graves of 49 Nazi SS troops continued to overshadow events leading up to the seven-nation economic summit running from Thursday night to Saturday.

Tempers became so frayed in an exchange between newsmen and

administration officials that Richard Burt, assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian affairs, walked out. He had been briefing reporters on Reagan`s meetings Thursday with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President Richard von Weizsaecker.

Reagan held a series of bilateral meetings with other heads of state, stressing the need to start a new round of trade talks next year, to step up economic growth in Europe and Japan and to gain support for his ``Star Wars`` Strategic Defense Initiative.

But the President failed to persuade the French to support the new round of trade talks, officials said.

At a leadoff session, a senior administration official said Weizsaecker told Reagan ``he appreciated the President`s courage for keeping his schedule, including Bitburg. He felt that after the furor was over, the President`s stay would have a long and deep meaning for the U.S.-German relationship.``

According to administration officials, Kohl said the Bitburg visit would be recognized in the future as a gesture of reconciliation and as sending ``a powerful signal to the German people.``

Reagan brought up the issue of collective guilt in historical terms and said ``the U.S. rejected the idea of collective guilt at Nuremburg,`` the official said.

He quoted Reagan as saying that ``we do not condemn the German nation``

and added that the sins of fathers are not borne by their children.

Confusion about what Reagan said about collective guilt arose by a third- hand report from German sources that Reagan had said he regretted recent voices in the U.S. about the need for collective guilt on the part of Germans. But press spokesman Larry Speakes said Reagan did not express regret.

A senior official quoted Kohl as saying that, in connection with Bitburg and the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II, ``We must never forget and we can never forgive.``

This statement was not fully clarified, but officials said it referred to a recent speech by Kohl at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They said Kohl had said he could understand why certain people could never forgive, apparently referring to the genocidal Holocaust the Nazis perpetrated against the Jews.

Kohl told Reagan that ``if it were not for the security`` required to protect the summit leaders against terrorist threats, ``you`d see thousands of people in the street demonstrating`` in appreciation of the U.S. President`s visit.

Kohl also told Reagan that if he were to run for election in West Germany, he`d win by a large majority. According to informed sources, Kohl and Reagan also cheerfully exchanged Russian jokes during their meeting.

Burt, who is expected to become the next U.S. ambassador to West Germany, cause a stir when he walked out of the briefing with reporters on Reagan`s meeting with West German officials. He appeared to be upset by the banter at the briefing and had earlier chastised reporters for snickering over reported remarks between Reagan and Kohl.

Repeatedly asked to explain the ``forgive and forget`` remark, Burt gathered up his papers and said, ``Goodbye.``

Reagan himself was relentlessly cheerful and unruffled as he worked his way through a long day of meetings, winding up with a banquet Thursday night with his summit partners from Britain, Japan, West Germany, Canada, Italy and France.

Asked if he and Kohl had discussed the Bitburg ``problems or controversies,`` Reagan replied, ``There aren`t any problems or

controversies.``

At another point he was asked about France`s call for a new conference on monetary issues and a possible re-pegging of currency rates that now float free.

A reporter quoted British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as saying,

``It`s jabberwocky to talk about pegging those (currency) rates again.``